Ha Giang (VNS/VNA) - Tet (Lunar New Year)is an important time of year for every Vietnamese person worldwide, butit's that little bit more special for Lu Van Phong and his family this year.

That's because the 47-year-old war veteran fromHoang Su Phi district in the northern province of Ha Giang, and his family willcelebrate their first Tet in their new home.

The house was built with financialsupport form the Vietnam Association for Supporting Unexploded Ordnance/MineAction (VNASMA) and the local Red Cross association.

“I was injured seriously when I took part in theVi Xuyen battle against the Chinese invasion in 1984,” Phong said.

“Life is so difficult as I lost 25 percent of myhealth and can’t really do hard work. My wife has to work in the field alone.”

“With our little savings, we could neverbuild a house without support from the VNASMA and the Red Cross.”

Phong is one of many warvictims receiving support from the VNASMA, according to Lieutenant GeneralNguyen Duc Soat, hero of the People’s Armed Forces and former Deputy Chief ofStaff of the Vietnam People's Army.

As president of the VNASMA, Soat and hiscomrades in co-operation with local Party committees, local authorities andinternational organisations have supported victims of unexploded ordnance(UXO) nationwide and worked to eliminate UXO.

A ceremony took place last week in Hanoi toreview the activities of the VNASMA since its establishment in 2014.

“In five years, VNASMA has been developed withthe participation of 1,500 members,” said Soat.

“We have helped more than 5,500 victims throughactivities such as building houses, giving breeding stock and raising people’sawareness of UXO’s effects,” he said.

For Soat, one of the most memorable trips tohelp victims of landmines was his first as president of the VNASMA to HaGiang to offer prosthetics for victims of bombs and mines.

“I don’t know if you can imagine the emotionwhen I saw 35 disabled people who had lost either their legs or arms that cameto ask us for help,” he said.

“It was very cold. Seeing one or severaldisabled people is not an unusual experience but seeing a line of 35 people isreally haunting. Especially when I know that there are tens of thousands ofVietnamese people who have been injured by bombs and mines left from war.”

Many things to do

There are an estimated 800,000 tonnes ofunexploded bombs in Vietnam, with 9,200 communes contaminatedby ordnance, accounting for 21 percent the country's area, according toSoat.

“There are many things to do. When I hear newsabout an accident caused by UXO, I feel hurt and worried as it’s ourresponsibility,” Soat said.

The explosion of an old bomb inHa Dong district, Hanoi, in 2016 killed four people, injured many andshook society.

Soat said he's pained that such accidentsstill happen in the capital because of a lack of awareness.

“We have not fulfilled our duty to educate thepeople on how to handle unexploded ordnance left over from the war. In thecapital, people still don’t know how to tackle UXO, how about people in therural and remote areas? The question makes me ponder.”

“We have told ourselves to do more in our masscommunication campaign to help people handle such a situation,” he said.

Soat reckons education has to start withchildren, as most adults are often too busy to teach about UXO.

“Last year, we released a cartoon series topublicize the danger of UXO and how to tackle UXO, the method reallyworks as it received the attention of children. They will tell theirparents about the information they get from the cartoon and they can protectthemselves from UXO.”

"The VNASMA plans to carry outmore education, vocational training, resettlement support, andcommunity integration in areas severely contaminated with UXO in 2020 andbeyond," Soat said.

“We have also received support from former USpilots who were our enemies during the war in the northern Vietnamese airspace,such as Charlie Tutt, head of the US veteran pilot delegation, and AmericanLegion National Commander Charles E Schmidt.”

Soat revealed that Vietnamese and US veteranpilots have met several times to discuss how to support Vietnamese warvictims through an official US government programme.

Pham Thi Tan, vice chairwoman of the Red CrossAssociation of Ha Giang, said building houses and offering vocationalguidance were really meaningful and necessary for war victims. However, shesaid raising awareness of the people and clearing the land were the mostimportant work.

“In the future, we expect that the VNASMA andthe International Red Cross and Red Crescent will help eliminatethe UXO, it’s really a big campaign that we need the help of internationalexperts in finance and technique,” she said.

Nguyen Van Hoi, director of the Department ofSocial Insurance under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs,said he highly appreciated the work of the VNASMA.

“Together with the support and policies of theGovernment, the VNASMA has helped many victims of landmines and gatheredother organisations involved in the work,” Hoi said./.